By NNN-Bernama
Nay Pyi Tiaw (Myanmar) : The Myanmar military junta released most of the 2,000-odd people who were held for questioning on their involvement in last month’s anti-government protests ahead of UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s visit to Myanmar next month.
Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan said the government had freed 2,147 of the 2,284 people arrested in Yangon at the height of the street protests.
It had also released 551 of the 643 people detained for participation in pro-democracy protests in other towns.
“We are giving the assurance to the people that anyone arrested for questioning will be released if the person is not involved in violent acts,” he told journalists from Asean countries at his office in this new Myanmar’s administrative capital today.
Gambari recently made a six-nation tour of Asean and Asian countries to seek support for UN efforts to promote political and economic reforms in military-ruled Myanmar.
The tour, whick took Gambari to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, India and Japan, underlined the growing emphasis being placed by UN on the importance of regional countries promoting democratic transition in Myanmar.
After his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Oct 17, Gambari had said “UN secretary-general (Ban Ki-moon) is absolutely committed to working with the Myanmar government, neighbouring countries and with Asean so that together we can achieve this goal of a peaceful democratic and prosperous Myanmar.”
Gambari had noted that the main obstacle for a political transition to democracy in Myanmar was the lack of dialogue between the government, pro-democracy leader Ang San Suu Kyi and other groups.
On Gambari’s visit, Kyaw Hsan said the Myanmar government was prepared to cooperate with the UN Envoy and provide the necessary assistance.
On last month’s Buddhist monk-led peaceful protests in which 13 protesters were killed, he claimed the whole incident was exaggerated by the western media as though it was a pro-democracy protest.
“Actually, they (the protesters) are the ones who are anti-democracy and tried to undermine the roadmap for a transition to democracy in Myanmar initiated by the government.
“In fact, they tried to grab power through a short-cut,” he said, adding that the government was still in the process of implementing the remaining stage of the roadmap as was decided at the national convention in July.
On the military crackdown, Kyaw Hsan said the government had been patient and tolerant to solve the problem through peaceful means.
Nevertheless, he said, the government had to stop the protesters in accordance with the law when they resorted to violence and the situation became out of control.
“More than 40 security personnel were wounded when they tried to disperse the protest. This fact was not highlighted by the western media,” he said.
He also claimed the western media carried distorted reports about the number of Buddhist monks who took part in the protest.
“Out of 500,000 Buddhist monks in Myanmar, less than two per cent of them took part in the protest, but the western media put it as hundreds of thousands,” he said.
On Asean’s role, Kyaw Hsan stressed on the need for the regional grouping to explain the true situation in member countries, taking into account the different social, political and economic climate in each member state.
“It is important for us to be aware of the difference between cooperation and interference,” he added.